Wizards-76ers Preview

By NOEY KUPCHANPosted Nov 05 2013 3:38PM

After a stunning start, Michael Carter-Williams and the Philadelphia 76ers came crashing back down to earth in their last game.

A matchup with the winless Washington Wizards could help them bounce back.

Philadelphia tries to continue its recent success against the visiting Wizards, who hope to avoid opening 0-4 for the third consecutive season Wednesday night.

While the 76ers (3-1) turned heads in beating Miami, Washington and Chicago to open the season, they were blown out 110-90 by Golden State on Monday. Philadelphia, which averaged 110.0 points on 51.2 percent shooting in its first three games, was limited to 35.2 percent from the field and fell behind by as many as 39.

"There's no beating around the bush, they beat the (heck) out of us," said center Spencer Hawes, who had five points and eight rebounds after averaging 19.3 and 11.3 during the 3-0 start.

"That's one of those games that, they happen. You try to limit three or four of those over the course of a season, and we got one out of the way early."

Carter-Williams, though, shot 4 for 17, committed six turnovers and had four assists without a steal. He had been the reigning Eastern Conference player of the week after averaging 20.7 points, 9.0 assists, 4.3 steals and 2.3 turnovers.

"He wants to attack bigs, it's his nature. I like it, but it becomes an education where you're going in against 7-foot-2," first-year coach Brett Brown said. "He's going to have to get used to going at that size. It's just part of the process, it's part of his learning curve."

While his team was overmatched against the Warriors, Brown doesn't appear too concerned going forward.

"The peaks and valleys of the NBA are dangerous," he said. "You're never as good as you think you were and you're not as bad as you think you are.

"If we can just bang out great effort games and share the ball and play the right way - all those types of things - the results will come."

The 76ers now turn their attention back to the Wizards, whom they beat 109-102 on Friday behind Thaddeus Young's 29 points and Turner's 23.

Philadelphia has taken eight of 10 from Washington and five straight at home, but Brown isn't expecting anything to come easy Wednesday.

"They're going to want to make amends, we're going to have a much more difficult game," he said.

"I thought we battled well," guard Bradley Beal said. "We still had a few breakdowns on defense. ... We just have to knock down shots and limit our turnovers as much as possible."

Beal had 19 points while newcomer Marcin Gortat added 15 points and 11 rebounds. John Wall was held to 11 on 4-of-12 shooting but did have nine assists for Washington, which cut a 23-point deficit to seven in the final minute against the defending champions.

"This is how we've got to play," coach Randy Wittman said. "Nobody wants to lose but I thought we took a good step in the right direction."

The Wizards opened 0-8 in 2011-12 and a franchise-worst 0-12 last season. They could certainly use a boost from Nene, who may return after missing the last two games with a calf injury.

Washington has dropped 11 straight road games against Eastern Conference foes and 26 of 28 since the start of last season.

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Notebook: Wizards 116, 76ers 102

THE FACT: The Washington Wizards snapped a five-game losing streak at Philadelphia and won their first game of the season in the process.

THE LEAD: John Wall scored 24 points and led seven Washington Wizards in double figures in their 116-102 victory over the 76ers Wednesday night. Marcin Gortat scored 19 points and 12 rebounds while Bradley Beal had 17 points. Trevor Ariza contributed 15, Martell Webster had 14 while Nene and Al Harrington added 10 apiece. It was the first win in four games this season for the Wizards.

Evan Turner paced the Sixers with 24 points while Spencer Hawes had 23 points and 13 rebounds. Michael Carter-Williams scored 19 points and James Anderson had 13. It was the second straight home loss for the Sixers, who fell to 3-2 overall.

THE STAT: The Wizards were outstanding from 3-point territory, going 18-for-33. Six different Washington players hit at least one trey.

TURNING POINT: The Sixers closed within 71-67, but the Wizards responded with an 18-9 run to end the third quarter. They never looked back and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way.

HOT: Gortat was 8-for-12 while Turner knocked down nine of his 13 shots for the Sixers.

NOT: Carter-Williams was 8-for-21 and Thaddeus Young missed eight of his 11 shots.

GOOD MOVE: The Wizards moved the ball nicely all night. On many possessions, all five players touched the ball and they wound up with a good shot. The ball movement stayed sharp the whole game and it was anchored by Wall.

BAD MOVE: The Sixers did a poor job of rotating on defense around the perimeter. Washington had way too many open looks without a hand in the shooter's face. The result was 18 made 3-pointers.

INSIDE THE ARENA: It was a relatively quiet crowd of 10,117 for much of the game, especially with the Wizards building a large lead and maintaining it.

QUOTABLE II: "Hopefully, this will be the start of something good moving forward."-- Beal, on the team's first win.

NOTABLE: Sixers center Daniel Orton played 6:33 in the first half but didn't return the rest of the game because of right knee soreness. ... The Wizards scored a season-high 116 points. ... The Wizards hit a franchise record 18 3-pointers. ... Turner scored at least 20 points for the fourth time in five games this season. ... Hawes compiled his third double-double of the season. ... Carter-Williams has scored 99 points through the first five games, the most points scorer by a player through the first five games since Kevin Durant had 113 in 2007-08. ... All nine Wizards picked up at least one assist. ... The Sixers observed a moment of silence before the game in memory of former equipment manager Jeff Millman, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 67. The Sixers will wear a black stripe on the shoulder of both their home and road jerseys for the remainder of the month. Millman worked for the Sixers for five decades.

QUOTABLE III: "We've been a little lackadaisical with our starts and that's been all of us."-- Carter-Williams.